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Dacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMW

The automotive world is running out of old rides to modernize and re-invent. So we thought it would be interesting to highlight something that used to be really popular but is now largely forgotten, the Dacia 1300.
Dacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMW 7 photos
Photo: Mares Narcis George
Dacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMWDacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMWDacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMWDacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMWDacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMWDacia 1300 Gets Widebody and Shooting Brake Versions, Looks like a BMW
Europe loves the affordable Dacia brand and can't buy enough Dusters. Many folks know that it's a Romanian company from the other side of the Cold War. While the 1300 is not their first model, it's impossible to imagine the brand without this model.

The first one rolled off the line in 1969 and it was pretty much the main form of transportation for an entire country for the next 35 years. Ambulances, pickups taking pigs to markets, family vacations, delivery vans - this car did everything.

Even after the communist government fell in 1989, Romania's keen drivers (teens) had no other car to play with. Many tried wider wheels or cutting the end bits off the springs. But after a while, as the economy slowly recovered and imports started rolling in, the humble 1300 was forgotten.

To this day, hardcore conversions are pretty rare, especially ones as radical as the one we have here. Local artist Mares Narcis George too the 1300 to the next level with several 3D models depicting crazy body styles like a shooting brake.

Our favorite has to be the so-called "Green Potato", which is a widebody conversion. We think the style mirrors several BMW models, ranging from the M2 all the way to a really cool E30 M3 shown in SEMA This year.

For some reason, the 1300 has always been compared to the 3 Series. That's a little strange, considering it's actually a French car with an underpowered engine. But if you squint really hard, it kind of looks like an E30... or any other small 2-door sedan of that era, including the Nissan Skyline.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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